This article is reprinted with permission from Biteye Chinese, and the copyright belongs to the original author.
The rhythm of the crypto market is fast. So, who is buying? How much has been bought? Who is selling? Where is the selling pressure concentrated?
Which funds are locked up for the long term, and which funds might flow out at any time?
These questions determine the price elasticity of tokens and the potential rise and fall in the next cycle.
Data from Solana Compass shows that the total supply of SOL is 610 million tokens.
As of September 16, approximately 408 million SOL have been staked across the Solana network, accounting for 66.9% of the total supply. This essentially consists of staked retail investors, DeFi protocols, treasury stakes from listed companies, foundations, and institutional whales.
In comparison, the staking rate for ETH is only 40%. This makes SOL one of the mainstream public chains with the highest staking rate in the crypto market, indicating limited selling pressure and strong price support.
- Analysis of Staking Concentration:
There are also some highlights in the staking validator landscape, according to Everstake data:
The top three validators, Helius, Binance Staking, and Galaxy, collectively control over 26%, with Helius alone holding 13.22 million SOL (accounting for 9.76%).
Next are several nodes like Ledger by Figment, Kiln, Coinbase, and Everstake, each with shares in the 3-6% range.
This indicates that Solana's staking landscape presents a "head concentration + long tail dispersion": large institutional nodes have significant influence, but overall, a certain level of decentralization is maintained, avoiding complete domination by a single force.
Note: The data in the pie chart below mainly shows the distribution of top validators and does not equal the total staked amount of 408 million SOL across the network.
- DeFi Protocols
According to DeFiLlama data, the total value locked (TVL) in Solana is approximately 52.89 million SOL. However, it is important to note that a significant portion of this comes from LST derivatives (such as JitoSOL, mSOL, bSOL), not all of which are SOL. This part of the data also overlaps with the network's 66.9% staking data and is not an independently added locked amount.
- Foundation
The SOL held by the Solana Foundation and Solana Labs is mainly placed in staking accounts, which is included in the already staked 408 million SOL, with the specific proportion unknown.
- FTX, Alameda
The uniqueness of SOL lies in a "historical legacy" portion, which is the chips from FTX and Alameda.
During the early ecosystem development of Solana from 2020 to 2022, FTX and Alameda were among the most important supporters, buying and holding SOL on a large scale. After the collapse of FTX in November 2022, this portion of assets was held in custody and entered liquidation procedures. Their future unlocking, auctioning, and even over-the-counter trading will affect the supply-demand balance of SOL.
Since November 2023, FTX and Alameda-related staking addresses have redeemed and transferred a total of 8.98 million SOL.
Currently, about 4.18 million SOL (accounting for 0.69%) are still staked on-chain, with phased unlocking until 2028.
This portion is viewed by the market as potential selling pressure, which could lead to price fluctuations.
According to Strategic SOL Reserve data (as of September 16), 17 entities have established SOL treasury reserves, totaling 17.112 million SOL, accounting for 2.8% of the current total supply.
Among these holdings, the number of staked SOL is approximately 7.4 million SOL, accounting for about 1.2% of the total supply.
The leading companies in holdings are:
- Forward Industries (FORD): 6.822 million SOL, approximately $1.63 billion
- Sharps Technology (STSS): 2.14 million SOL, approximately $510 million
- DeFi Development Corp (DFDV): 2.028 million SOL, approximately $480 million
- Upexi (UPXI): 2 million SOL, approximately $470 million
- Galaxy Digital: 1.35 million SOL, approximately $320 million
In the total supply breakdown, this portion only counts the unstaked 9.71 million SOL (approximately 1.59%) to avoid double counting with the network's staked amount.
ETPs (Exchange-Traded Products) are essentially fund shares listed on exchanges. The following ETPs will directly buy and hold SOL spot, then issue corresponding shares for circulation on the exchange.
- 21Shares ASOL with a scale of approximately $1.53 billion
- CoinShares SLNC with a scale of approximately $699 million
Estimating in the $200–$260 range corresponds to holdings of approximately 8.57–11.15 million SOL, accounting for 1.41% – 1.83% of the total supply.
Although traditional spot SOL ETFs are still awaiting regulatory approval, the REX-Osprey SOL + Staking ETF (SSK) was launched in July 2025, becoming the first ETF in the U.S. to combine SOL spot and on-chain staking yields.
As of mid-September, the fund size is approximately $274 million, with about 56.7% in spot SOL. Estimating in the $200–$260 range, this corresponds to approximately 598–777 thousand SOL.
In total, the three spot holdings amount to approximately 9.17–11.92 million SOL, accounting for 1.50%–1.96% of the total supply, averaging about 1.73%, with this portion of funds leaning more towards long-term stability.
- Whales/Exchanges
According to CoinCarp Rich List data (as of September 16), a single whale address holds over 5 million SOL (approximately 1% of total supply) at most. Overall, Solana currently has about 9.15 million addresses, with the top 100 addresses accounting for only 22.8%, indicating limited concentration at the top, with most chips distributed among long-tail users, staking pools, and exchanges.
It is important to note that whale addresses are not necessarily all "retail investors," as they include early VCs, exchanges, dormant wallets, etc. Additionally, there is an overlap between whale holdings and staking, with many whale chips already staked.
- Retail Investors
Dispersed but numerous, they form the basic market.
- Undisclosed Institutions
Some funds or venture capital may hold, but have not entered reports.
So far, there has been no public disclosure of any government or sovereign fund directly holding SOL.
Beyond funds, there is also narrative. Who is bullish on SOL?
Matt Hougan, the investment director at Bitwise, recently emphasized in an article that Solana is in a critical window for ETP approval + the rise of corporate SOL treasuries, a combination that has historically led to significant price increases for Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Former Goldman Sachs executive Raoul Pal @RaoulGMI described Solana as "stupidly bullish" in the long term, expressing a long-term bullish outlook on SOL.
Notable cryptocurrency trader Ansem @blknoiz06 recently expressed bullish sentiments around "if treasury corporate funds enter Solana DeFi, it will be extremely bullish."
Mert Mumtaz, CEO of Helius Labs, bets that Solana will rise 150% in the next five years, believing that any short-term price movements are just noise.
From the holding structure to the narrative level, SOL has entered a phase driven by "institutional buying + market bullishness." Combined with the Hyperliquid liquidation chart, the current price is at $238:
First target: $250 - $275 — the first layer of short liquidation zone above, which may trigger short-term acceleration once broken.
Second target: $275 - $315 — the area with the densest accumulation of shorts, which may face stronger short squeezes after breaking.
With the resonance of ETFs/ETPs and treasury companies, market expectations for Solana will also be restructured. If the capital flow continues, it is possible for SOL to hit the $300-$400 range in a bull market.
Related: Forward Industries plans to sell up to $4 billion in shares to expand Solana (SOL) treasury.
Original article: “Solana's Recent Surge: Who Holds the Money?”
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